1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to snowboard bindings. More specifically, but without restriction to the particular use which is shown and described, this invention relates to a snowboard strap binding having a secondary ankle strap device. The secondary ankle strap device wraps around the back of the boot and improves the primary ankle strap performance by providing better heel hold with improved comfort.
2. Description of the Related Art
The sport of snowboarding has become an increasingly popular sport in recent years. Snowboard riders (hereinafter "snowboarders") are increasing in number and increasing the demand for high performance snowboards. To facilitate the high performance maneuvers made by snowboarders, the snowboarders require snowboard bindings that securely hold the snowboarder's boots to the snowboard to keep them in close association with the snowboard and thus the snow-covered slope.
When snowboarding, different styles of boots are used. Snowboard boots are typically characterized as either a soft boot (boots that have a flexible exterior), a hard boot (boots that have a hard exterior). Soft boots can also be configured as a step-in boot. Each of these types of boots have separate design considerations for the bindings. The hard snowboard boot bindings, for example, usually consist of a toe and heel piece fastened to the board for releasably clamping the toe and heel of the hard boot to the board. For a soft style snowboard boot, a popular binding is the strap binding.
The strap binding firmly holds the snowboard boot down to the board and provides a support structure to allow a snowboarder to control the board and also to transmit power to the snow. Conventional snowboard strap bindings for a soft boot consist of a binding base, a toe strap, an ankle strap, and a highback. A typical style of binding base includes a base plate with a relatively large hole in the center, with a corresponding mounting plate disc which engages the base plate hole. The mounting plate disc is bolted to the snowboard and thus secures the base plate to the board. The mounting plate allows for rotational positioning of the base plate to allow the snowboarder to change the stance orientation of the bindings relative to the snowboard for skilled maneuvering. The toe and ankle straps of the soft boot binding have essentially identical functionality. Each strap cooperates with the base plate for strapping over respective toe and ankle portions of the boot for securing the boot the snowboard. The highback is the structure of the strap binding that supports the back of the leg.
The known soft boot snowboard binding systems use only an ankle strap attached to the sides of the base plate to hold the heel of the boot down onto the snowboard. As conventional, the ankle strap only contacts the top of the foot to hold the heel down resulting in less than optimum heel hold down. This results in a less than desirable control of the snowboard since the snowboarder's heel is not always in contact with the board during skilled maneuvering. In addition, when increased pressure is applied against the conventional ankle strap as it is mounted to the base plate, the pressure is focused on the top of the foot creating discomfort for the snowboard rider. These and other disadvantages with existing soft boot bindings are overcome by the present invention.